


baubles

by brandywine421



Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Defenders (Marvel TV)
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2020-10-18 15:56:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20641796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandywine421/pseuds/brandywine421
Summary: Prompt:Daredevil/Defenders find an abandoned puppy/other animal in a dumpster. The more extreme the animal the better.From the leftover prompts on the Daredevil/Defenders Exchange - for stripedscribe.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [StripedScribe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StripedScribe/gifts).

> AN: I don't know if this counts because it gets fantastical, but the 'extreme' bit pinged my muses.

"Well, that was definitely a night to remember, wait, I mean forget - because I would really like to delete this night from my mind forever," Jessica grumbled, flicking another handful of slime off her ruined jacket. She liked this jacket, too. And the boots. Yuck.

Danny, as always, was giddy with adrenaline and put his arm around her long enough for her to throw it off and send him toward the Devil. She regretted it considering the guy had been choking back bile all night from whatever he smelled in the goop.

"We were on fire, guys, we've never worked together so well," Danny beamed.

"I'm going to puke," Matt stated, breaking away from their shambling group and finding the closest shadow like a beacon.

"He's right, you know? Think we've finally fucked up enough on our own that we can deal with asking for backup," Luke said, chuckling as he picked a glob of goo from her hair.

"Talk to me after a shower and maybe I'll care," Jessica muttered.

Luke turned toward the alley where Danny was hovering behind Matt. "What are you doing, holding his hair?"

"I will cut you," Matt growled and Danny hurried back to them with a diminished smile.

"He's been fighting that all night, he'll be all right," Jessica said when both men glanced back with worried expressions. They were mother hens and she didn't blame Matt - it was sickening.

"It's not poison and it's no worse than the dumpster he's throwing up behind," Danny said, raising his fingers to his nose. At least he didn't lick it - _wait_ \- okay. Well, whatever.

Matt made a sudden sound that she would insist later was a_ 'little girl scream'_ but was actually more like a _'I am in distress **halp**'_ noise. "Shit," he muttered when she made it to his side, sitting on his ass in a puddle of slime.

"What - _shit_," she whispered when she saw what he had in his lap.

"It's a puppy, right? Tell me it's a puppy," Matt said breathlessly as the - _fuck_ \- dragon - lapped at his cheek with a long forked tongue.

"Right, totally a puppy," Luke said blankly, his hand on Danny's chest to keep him at a safe distance.

"Don't kill this one, it's just a baby," Jessica warned.

Danny frowned at her, insulted. "That's not how it works."

"It's a dragon, isn't it?" Matt asked even as he strummed a roped hand down the creature's spine. The thing rumbled out a pleased purr and licked another stripe across his cheek. "I should be wearing my medic alert bracelet, please call my shrink, the number's in my phone."

"You're not hallucinating because we totally see it, too," Jessica said.

"Maybe we can get a group rate," Luke muttered, crouching down. "Hi there," he started and the dragon turned and hissed angrily, snuggling closer to Matt's heaving chest. "Okay, then."

"Um. I think you've been adopted, Matt," Danny said.

"I need an adult," Matt stated.

* * *

"What do dragons even eat?" Jessica whispered as they followed Matt and Danny, who did not earn the same hiss as Luke, into the apartment.

"Ninjas?" Luke offered.

"Google it," Danny said.

"Okay, sanity check - dragons are not real. Call Foggy," Matt said and his non-Daredevil phone lit up on the counter, dialing.

_"It's after three a.m., is it hospital or jail related?"_ Nelson's voice echoed through the space.

"We found a dumpster dragon," Danny answered, taking the phone while Matt carried the clingy reptile into the bathroom.

_"Hi, Danny, anyone else there to translate?"_ Foggy replied after a beat.

"He's telling the absolute truth," Luke said. "Baby dragon imprinted on our resident devil and he's having a little trouble accepting it."

_"Dragons aren't real,"_ Foggy said.

"You know of any lizards with wings that hiss fire?" Jessica asked.

_"Not it. Tell Matt he can take the morning off and I'll call his shrink, see if I can get you a group rate.."_

Luke sighed. "Maybe call that wizard you know?"

"I hate that guy!" Matt called from the bathroom.

_"All right, I'll give him a call but Matt hates that guy,"_ Foggy said.

"Matt hates everyone, we'll deal with it," Jessica said. "Thanks, Nelson."

_"I take back everything I said about Matt doing better with a team, never brought home a dragon before, the fuck is my life - "_

Matt returned, freshly scrubbed in bare feet and sweats with the dragon happily perched on his shoulder pawing at his hair. "Help."

"Too much affection, I gotcha," Jessica said, shoving Danny toward him. "Dibs on shower - raiding your closet, Murdock."

"Check the bottom drawer," Matt said while Danny coaxed the dragon into his arms.

"She's beautiful," Danny said softly. Shiny black scales apart from the iridescent underbelly and thin wings. She had intelligent brown eyes.

"How do you know it's a girl?" Luke asked.

"Just a feeling," Danny shrugged.

Jessica left them to discuss gender politics and retreated to the shower.

* * *

"He's getting magic all over my stuff," Matt grumbled when Dr. Strange crouched down to examine the dragon.

Jessica patted his shoulder in a _'there, there'_ gesture than he didn't appreciate which was the whole point. "Suck it up."

The dragon tilted its head curiously at the Sorcerer and stretched its neck to make sure Matt was still in the room. Allegedly she'd whined after a few minutes with Danny and had decided that Matt was Mom. _Ha_.

"Where did you find her again?" Dr. Strange asked.

"Dumpster," Matt and Jessica answered together.

"I meant - never mind," Dr. Strange scoffed.

"We broke up a smuggling ring that was bringing in alien tech from - elsewhere. It was Danny's lead," Matt said. Jessica was slightly reassured that Matt hadn't bothered to follow up on the mission either - they both had just trusted that Danny needed help for a good reason.

Dr. Strange raised an eyebrow and the dragon hissed suddenly and spat a ball of fire at him, snuffed out by his magic cape. The dragon took this as an insult and flared her wings and the cloak flared back.

"Are we just letting this happen?" Matt asked, holding out his hand. "Come here, Anora."

"Anora?" Jessica asked a moment before the dragon landed on his arm and nuzzled her snout against his chin. "She can fly?"

"Intriguing," Dr. Strange hummed.

"Where'd you get the name, Anora?" Jessica asked. The dragon chirped. _Chirp?_

"Ah," Dr. Strange said with a smug expression. "She's imprinted on you, Mr. Murdock."

"Bite me," Matt replied. Anora chirruped, mimicking his dry tone.

Luke and Danny emerged from the bedroom in clean clothes of their own. Matt's bottom drawer was filled with laundered clothes that had been abandoned in the months since they reconnected and Jessica couldn't deny a little twinge of fondness at the Devil's thoughtfulness. She wouldn't even mention that most of the clothes were Spider-Man's size since Matt refused to admit he had another friend.

"Did you figure anything out?" Danny asked.

"Her name's Anora, apparently, and Matt's her Mom," Jessica said.

Danny had his phone out. "Google is showing me beanie baby dragons." Luke laughed softly and swaggered into Matt's room and returned with a small toy, showing her the tag.

"Only dragon name I could think of other than _Smaug_ and that seemed cruel," Matt admitted, scritching his new pet's chin, not rising to the 'Mom' jab. "A client's kid gave me that, put it back."

"Mr. Rand, I believe you misled your teammates on what kind of smugglers you intercepted tonight. Alien tech or mystical artifacts?" Dr. Strange asked, stalling the imminent cuteness overload when the real dragon caught sight of the toy dragon's shiny wings.

"Alien tech, you want to see the inventory? I took pictures before I called the cops," Danny shrugged, not catching that he was being accused of lying. "Ward actually caught the glitch in the manifest of the ship, he's testing a new computer program to monitor our supply shipments."

Strange seemed surprised. "So there were no suspicious antiques or - "

Luke held up one of the small scanners Danny made them all carry for 'on the job testing'. "Space stuff according to the chem signatures."

"Smelled like space stuff," Matt agreed. "Are you an alien dragon?" he cooed, earning more purring and some chirps.

Shit, he was already attached. "So, Doc, you think he escaped from the shipment or - "

"I think she's a few centuries late breaking out of her egg, possibly unrelated to what you were doing tonight but definitely something that I need to investigate," Strange replied.

"Are you going to take Matt's dragon away?" Luke asked.

Dr. Strange frowned. "Why? I can help with camouflaging her, but she's bonded to him, now. Plus, it might get magic on all his stuff."

"I don't know how to take care of a - pet," Matt said, sadly, when he reconnected to the conversation.

"Good thing she's not a pet, more like a 'familiar' than anything else. She'll eat what you eat, think like you think, for better or worse. Good thing _you_ found her before someone who would use her for evil," Strange said.

"Oh," Matt replied after a beat. Anora licked his cheek happily.

"Keep her inside for a few days, I'll craft a bracelet for her - not a collar, but a charm so she can go outside with you in a different form," Dr. Strange offered.

"What kind of form?" Danny asked.

"From what I know of Familiars, the spell will bend to her will. Guide dog, cat, maybe an owl if you take her 'patrolling' and need eyes in the sky," he shrugged. "She'll probably always 'look' the same to Matthew," he added.

"She doesn't look magical to me," Matt admitted, holding Anora out to 'examine' her.

Strange chuckled. "Because she's yours."

* * *

They would never admit it out loud, but Dr. Strange wasn't a bad guy to have as an emergency contact.

If they put on the rings that matched the jewel on her golden bracelet, she would have their back in any form, just like her chosen. So Matt sometimes had a guide dog named Annie. And Jessica sometimes had a cat named Nora. And sometimes Luke had a ferret named Anna. And Danny, the fucker, had a falcon named Orange because he sucked. The pigeon that followed Spider-Man was just a rumor.  
  
(Anora the Dragon, though, she only answered to Daredevil.)


	2. Chapter 2

_ **(later)** _

"What's the emergency, Matt? You never want me to come over during the day," Peter hurried down the stairs and peered into the bedroom, hoping not to find his reluctant mentor bleeding out.

Matt was sitting in meditation position on the bed with his hands held out. A lizard - wait - a dragon - sat across from him, tilting her head curiously at him. _"Chirp!"_

"Peter. This is my support dragon, Anora," Matt said without opening his eyes.

Peter reconsidered all his life choices. "Okay."

"I need your help. I've never had a pet and I'm having a lot of emotions," Matt continued in a flat tone.

Anora fluttered her wings and butted her snout against his fingertips.

"She needs a bed and toys and - I need a break," Matt said, opening his eyes. The dragon took that as permission to rush him and smother him with cuddles.

Peter snapped three pictures, forwarded them to MJ and Ned with the caption_ 'omg am i dead'_. "Matt, um, I'd really like to help, but that's a dragon. Granted, it's the most adorable dragon I've ever seen but - "

_"Chirrup!"_ His hand darted out automatically and the baby dragon landed on his arm and licked his phone.

"Oh good, she likes you," Matt said. "Can you please help me with Amazon?"

Peter reconsidered all his life choices again with the purring creature looking at him with wide eyes. "I will do anything you want," he told the dragon.

* * *

"Foggy? What's wrong?" Karen nudged him but he didn't move from his frozen position just inside Matt's door.

"I - can't - even - just - " Foggy stammered finally, motioning vaguely toward the billboard-lit main room.

She gasped from the overpowering cuteness going down. A teenage boy was curled in a ball in a fluffy pink pet bed and a tiny dragon was curled in a smaller ball in his ruffled hair. It took a moment for her to spot Matt asleep on top of a mountain of colorful throw pillows.

She covered her mouth to hold in her coo and pulled out her phone for blackmail - wait - better - collateral. She snatched Foggy's phone to prevent him from taking this from her.

She was going to get the biggest raise.


	3. Chapter 3

  
Tony blinked the spots and smoke and - ow - pain out of his vision and realized why everything was so fucking bright all of a sudden - his suit was down for the count.

He realized a couple of other things. One, his faceplate was in several pieces several yards away and two, a pigeon was sitting on his chest pecking at his phone.

"Excuse you," he coughed, swatting at the bird. It almost looked like that pigeon that followed Peter - _wait_ \- where was Peter?

"Chirp."

Not 'coo' or 'warble' or whatever the fuck noise pigeons made but a flat, dry chirp meant for another bird.

A crash shocked him out of his, well, _shock_, and he struggled to move the dead weight of the deactivated suit but he was dead in the water when the pair of robots stomped toward his pile of rubble.

"Woof," the pigeon said, flexing tiny bird claws and letting out a rumbling growl as it took flight.

Okay, so he possibly had a concussion, right? There was no way a pigeon could breath fire and body-slam robots - right?"

The pigeon 'chittered' when it had charred the robots into submission, ripping the head off the one that crawled too far away. Then the bird did a lazy swoop and left a trail of fire - two letters in flame. "Oh, fuck." **D.D.** _Daredevil_. Fuck.

"Dude, did you get turned into a pigeon? Are you all right? Did you get hit with a spell or - " Tony blurted out when the bird landed on his armor again.

The pigeon tilted its head and meowed at him, almost like a question. Didn't Daredevil tilt his head like that?

"Mr. Stark, you're awake! Thank God, you hit the ground and were out for, like, ten minutes - are you - "

"Peter," he sighed in relief when Spider-Man swung over to crouch at his side. The pigeon chirped at him, hopping onto his shoulder. "I think your friend Daredevil got turned into a bird."

"Oh. Sorry, I don't even know this pigeon." Peter lied as the bird nuzzled against his cheek. "It was totally nice of her to stay with you, though, right?"

"She wrote DD in fire," Tony stated.

"You took a hard fall, we'll have to get your head looked at," Peter said. The pigeon agreed with a chipper 'meow'. "Shh."

"Right. Okay. Hit my head, sure," Tony muttered. "We'll go with that."

"Really?" Peter asked.

"Of course not, help me up," Tony sighed. "Does she have a name? I'd like to thank her."

"Woof," said the pigeon.

"We think she's going through a rebellious phase, she knows better," Peter smiled, scritching the bird between her wings. She cooed appropriately.

Okay, fine, whatever, magic birds and robots, sure, whatever. Maybe Pepper was right, he might be getting too old for this.


	4. Chapter 4

Sam wished he had time for his life to flash before his eyes but falling wasn't really about time - his wings were down, all his flying teammates were out of the country and - well, he was possibly bleeding all over the sidewalk before he smashed into it.

He wasn't supposed to die in Harlem - he wasn't supposed to die like this - fuck a shield, fuck a team - fuck these tinfoil wings - 

A shrill sound broke through his panic and - he didn't hit the ground - why didn't he hit the ground?

He was still flying - but not with his wings - 

_"Seriously? We've talked about this, Annie,"_ a voice said when he was lowered to his feet and then dropped into a sprawl on a rooftop.

He'd never run into Daredevil before and definitely didn't expect to find him in Harlem in the middle of the day.

It took him a moment to catch his breath and a large falcon - an actual falcon - landed on Daredevil's arm like a perch.

"You're probably shiny, she likes the shiny ones," Daredevil said as he picked off Sam's armor to check his busted shoulder. The falcon hopped from shoulder to shoulder and nuzzled against his cowl. So the Devil had a magic bird, of course he did. "What's happening down there?"

"Ow," Sam hissed when Daredevil finally got to his wound and pressed his roped hands over it. "We accidentally busted up an AIM lab."

"Happens - take a deep breath and hold it for me?"

He started to correct the guy's first aid but the bird squawked at him and he followed instructions. Daredevil tilted his head, leaned in close and nodded. "Sounds okay, through and through - "

The bird _meowed_ and hopped down, snatching a piece of his armor and trotting away with it in her beak.

"Danny and Luke are disarming the bad guys, I'm supposed to be on crowd control," Daredevil said, smacking a gauze pad on his wound - both sides - and wrapping it tightly.

"Where did you even get - never mind, help me up," Sam groaned. "Crowd control?"

"Yeah, until Anora decided to bring you to me. I can't engage during daylight hours or I get in all kinds of shit with my coworkers," Daredevil said, heaving him to his feet with his good arm. "It's getting kind of messy down there - "

"Thanks for the patch, I should get back to it," Sam said, peeking over the edge of the roof.

_"Woof!"_

Daredevil sighed. "If you promise not to get her shot, she can take you down."

Sam glanced at the falcon, that barked, okay, who was now wearing the red shard of his armor like a breastplate and flapping her wings eagerly. "Sure. Anora, you said?"

Daredevil crouched down and spoke to the bird. "No fire. Promise no fire? Extra promise? Okay." He shook the bird's talon and she swooped over to Sam's good shoulder and found his harness straps. Sam was definitely not going to ask.

"Close enough," Sam laughed when he was lifted to hover with his feet off the ground. "Good girl," he said and Anora chittered appreciatively before taking flight and dropping him behind Luke Cage at street level.

"Falcon! Damn glad to see you, this your mess?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, your friend saved my ass," he replied, pulling his weapons and checking the clips to make sure he could knock out enough of the bad guys to take back for questioning.

"She does that. You cool with not getting that piece of metal back?" Luke asked as Anora fluttered around him and then went chasing after the tiny white guy wailing on a group of thugs a few yards away.

"Totally cool," Sam promised. "Mind if I start knocking some of those assholes out?"

"Sure, but we have to beat it before the feds show up so don't take it personal if we disappear on you," Luke said.

"I'm gonna need a selfie for my Gran so don't go far - she's not going to like me making a mess in Harlem, but she loves your bald ass," Sam said, bracing his injured arm and getting back to work with the guy's laugh following him into the street.

He almost forgot about the falcon until a flume of fire caught his attention and he spotted Luke and Danny scolding the bird and smuggling it out of sight. 

Oh yeah, he was getting that selfie and some answers after this.


	5. Chapter 5

Natasha and Clint struggled in their shackles and tried not to look like they were struggling. They were too cool to struggle - even locked in the basement of a AIM warehouse after an ambush - she wasn't going to look less than cool in front of these bumblebee assholes.

"Bumblebee? Like the transformer?" Clint asked.

Shit. Didn't mean to say it out loud.

"You feel alright, Nat?"

"I am very, very pissed off," she snapped.

"Ah, on the same page as me then. Didn't come packed for an ambush, left my lockpicks in the car."

Clint didn't have a car but she decided not to think too hard about it, they'd both taken a few hard hits. She spotted something in the corner and pushed herself as close to standing as she could get with the chains.

"What?"

It was the strangest looking mouse she had ever seen and she bit back on the instinctive squeal at the realization. "Rat."

Clint didn't have her self control and shrieked, throwing himself against the wall. "Damn - wait, that's not a rat..."

Rat or mouse - all the same to her. Clint picked up the creature and she glimpsed mutated wings. "The fuck is that?" Natasha hissed.

Clint cupped the creature against his cheek with a pleased grin. "She's a Sugar glider."

"Chirp!" the creature agreed. 

"Don't know what it's doing here - " he started and the tiny beast burrowed into his collar and disappeared into his shirt as the beeps of someone unlocking the door interrupted their escape.

They both pretended to be asleep but she watched the two yellow jumpsuits through her lashes as they bustled around outside of the cell. Clint didn't move but she noticed a rustle in the cuff of his pants and saw the tiny creature on all fours, wiggling its little butt in the air like a cat a moment before it scurried through the bars and into the leg of the closest jumpsuit.

The man squealed in shock and she opened her eyes a snick wider to take in the show as the not-rat attacked the guard from inside his jumpsuit. It took a moment for the smell of burned hair and fabric reached her as tiny puffs of smoke started to burn through the suit in strategic locations as the other guard scrambled to help.

The sugar glider emerged from the guard's collar and roared triumphantly before a flume of fire successfully sent both men scrambling out of the room leaving the door open wide. It flapped down for a landing, primly licking a paw before dancing along the keys and opening the cell doors - and shackles with a polite chirp.

"Jesus Christ, that was awesome," Clint said helping her up and scooping up their rescuer. The creature didn't wait for rewards, though, fluttering into the air and meowing - like the world's saddest cat - loudly into the hallway. On the third yowl, Dr. Strange burst from a doorway, shaking out of chains that matched the ones they had just left.

"Doctor," Natasha greeted him with a matching unsurprised expression. "Did you lose something?"

He extended his hand and the animal landed in his palm with a rumbling sound. 

"Am I going to have a flurry of worried texts from your father, young lady?" Strange demanded, holding the sugar glider in his palm and trying to glare at her.

"Mew," the animal replied in an apologetic tone.

"She's very small to be allowed solo missions," Natasha said.

Strange stroked a finger down Annie's back and she purred. "I don't know if she's ever taken this form before, I think she's been watching National Geographic. She was an owl when I left this morning."

"Woof!"

"But she's not yours?" Clint asked, eyes wide with adoration. Lucky would probably be getting extra cuddles tonight. Disgusting.

"Goodness no, she's too high maintenance for a - pet." He narrowed his eyes at Annie again. "Wait - where's my cloak?"

"Mew."

Dr. Strange cursed and fumbled for his phone in the pile of confiscated gear. He scanned the texts with a furious expression while Clint and Natasha gathered their things.

"You calling for a ride?" Clint asked, shrugging into his battle vest.

"I can call an Uber for you, but I need to take this mongrel back and retrieve my cloak - she doesn't seem to understand the point of pet-sitting."

"Seems like she did okay since she saved you," Natasha considered, curling a finger to pet the mini-marsupial now that she was completely sure it wasn't a rat or mouse.

"I was supposed to keep her out of Daredevil's hair while he recovers from his ankle injury but it seems she swapped places with my cloak instead. So many texts," he groaned.

Natasha snorted. "Daredevil probably needs a sitter more than Annie," she cooed as the sugar glider purred in her palm.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like we didn't get enough time with Anora being a dragon so there's this now. <3

Steve checked the basket of fruit, the most exotic he could find online per Peter's suggestion, and made sure the chrome wrapping paper was at maximum shine. He nodded to himself for extra luck and knocked on the door. 

Matt Murdock opened it immediately because, of course, he would have heard Steve's bike coming blocks away. Great start, Steve.

"Hey. Am I in trouble?" He was leaning on a crutch and a large dog seemed to be bracing him on his free side. That cast looked painful.

"Oh, no, just - I brought you a fruit basket."

Matt blinked, remembered he wasn't wearing glasses and moved aside to get them, waving his permission to enter.

The dog took the permission for herself and immediately started showering Steve with attention and pawing at his boots with restrained glee.

"Annie, what have I told you about making friends?" Matt asked the frantically wagging dog. More than her tail was wagging, her whole furry body was in motion until she snapped her attention to her with startling intellect in her big puppy eyes.

She let out a questioning meow and then bared her teeth in a growl, swatting a paw at him in fake threat. Wait. Okay, maybe he owed Bucky an apology but - that was both upsetting and adorable.

"Right," Matt sighed when Steve had to cover his mouth to hide his giggle. "How can I help you, Captain?"

"Steve. We're both off the clock," he reminded the man.

Matt considered it for a long moment and then nodded, accepting. Steve felt like he'd won a prize - guy was intimidating as hell even without the horns.

"Fair enough. Annie, meet Steve."

The dog glanced at Matt and wagged her tail tentatively. Steve blinked and - there was a bear-sized dragon standing in her place - big enough to be eye level with him and still wagging her tail like the dog she had been impersonating.

"Oh. Sure. Great to meet you, Annie," Steve swallowed and had a moment to consider his life and his choices before she licked his face and trotted off to poke Matt with her snout until he wobbled unsteadily on his crutch.

"So, fruit basket?"

Right. "Heard you were recovering from an injury. Annie made an appearance and Stephen mentioned he was pet-sitting."

Matt shrugged. "I'm not the boss of her, I mean, she does what she wants most of the time - more like a cat than a dog in that way. Doc Strange says she's learning my habits so it's not out of question that her perimeter's wider than mine."

Steve knew Daredevil stuck to Hell's Kitchen but always thought it was because he didn't have a car, but of course the range of his hearing and familiarity with home turf were variables.

"She doesn't go out as a dragon?" Steve asked, staring at the blissfully happy dragon purring under Matt's eager belly-scratching.

"Not safe, but I don't particularly like the smell of magic so she doesn't have to wear her glamour in the apartment unless there are uninvited guests," Matt said.

Magic had a smell? Steve ignored the idea for the moment and tried to remember what he'd come for. "Well, Peter laughed at me when I told him I wanted to check on you but - I wanted to thank you in person for your help, for Annie's help."

"And?"

He sighed. "And to politely ask if your dragon possibly has something that doesn't belong to her."

Matt froze and Annie was a moment behind as she realized she was no longer being adored. "Annie? Do you have something you'd like to tell me?"

"Me-_oww_," the dragon replied with a failed attempt at innocence. "Chirp."

"Anora. Stealing is not allowed. Do I need to dig through your hoard myself or will you bring the Captain his stuff?" Matt asked.

The dragon scrambled through the bedroom doorway and the sound of clanking and rustling could be heard but finally, she returned and dropped a scuffed Iron Man boot at his feet.

"Um."

Matt crossed his arms and the dragon lowered her head with guilt and slinked out of the room again.

He was too shocked to laugh at the second offering, a shiny silver revolver - fully loaded from the looks of it.

"Please tell me that's your gun," Matt said, covering his face with his hand.

"Sorry."

"Annie, I'm very disappointed in you," Matt said sternly, not lowering his hand.

He felt like he was the bad guy when Annie practically slithered out of the room but glanced at Matt to find he was hiding a full-on smile behind his palm.

"I am sorry, but - we can't encourage her," he hissed out. "I blame Jessica for all of it - "

"You have a kleptomaniac dragon - " Steve hissed back but they both snapped their mouths closed when Annie returned. "Oh."

Matt tilted his head curiously, apparently not getting a read on it with his radar.

"That's a police badge," Steve admitted.

"Anora!" Matt groaned and she skittered out of the room again. "I want to respect her privacy but - "

The dragon finally returned with the familiar chrome extremity he'd been sent for. "Got it. Bucky swears a pigeon stole it off him when he was napping through a stakeout," Steve explained, taking the metal arm.

Annie pouted at Matt's feet, seeking forgiveness with a sad whine.

"I hate to be the bad guy, but - you should probably have someone safety check her hoard," Steve said.

Matt patted the dragon with a tired sigh, her tail slowly wagging with the reassurance she wasn't completely disowned. "Pretty sure the gun belongs to either the Punisher or my secretary so that's going to happen with or without my permission."


	7. Chapter 7

Peter was rarely invited to full Avengers meetings so he was on his best behavior today but kept his distance from Thor and Captain America so he didn't get rejected.  
  
"There's only one thing that can defeat the soldiers of Zircon," Thor said darkly, staring across the city through the Tower windows and looking totally regal. Peter was totally impressed.

"What? Alien weapons to fight aliens?" Tony offered. "Please don't say magic - "

"He brought his brother so, probably magic," Bruce sighed.

Loki frowned, but Peter thought he probably always frowned.

"Nay, not magic alone, but a creature of magic, has the Strangest of Doctors arrived yet?" Thor asked.

"Doctor Strange is on the B-squad, I'll give him a call," Steve said. "He probably won't have time to come by unless - "

"A creature of magic? Like his robe?" Clint interrupted.

"It's a cloak, and I don't think it's a creature, like, it doesn't eat, does it?" Peter considered.

"A _dragon_. Thor, for some reason, thinks a Midgardian would have a dragon at his beck and call as if they didn't kill them all eons ago," Loki snapped.

"Um," Peter and Steve said together, and then locked panicked eyes. "Wait - "

"Perhaps we do not need to bother the inferior wizard," Loki said, glancing between them with sharp eyes.

"No, you should go back to telling us about the hordes of soldiers heading toward Earth because you offended their princess," Natasha redirected.

"Not the Princess, just the Queen, the Princess was quite flattered by my attention - " Thor said, offended.

"Okay, since I'm B-squad, can I be excused?" Peter whispered to Clint.

"Nope, let's go on a ride - consider it weight training," Cap said, looming over him in his suddenly unsafe corner.

"Um, I have a doctor's note," Peter lied.

"Nice try," Clint gave him a thumbs up.

"Fine, but no piggyback - Bridal style the whole way," Peter decided. "Since it's weight training and all."

* * *

  
Anora greeted them on the roof in golden retriever shape and Peter worried she would vibrate off the edge in her eagerness for attention. "That energy's not going to help your case when I ask Matt to let you come out and play," Peter scolded her, showering her with pets.

Steve brushed off his dignity after the entertaining ride across the city and put on his good behavior face to knock on the open roof entry door.

"He knows we're here, come on," Peter laughed, following Annie downstairs.

"Busted day-drinking - ha," Jessica Jones barked from the couch. Annie shifted with a blink into a fluffy gray cat and leapt into her lap with a rumble of purrs.

Steve stared at the cat for a moment before shaking his head to clear his thoughts and scanning the room for Matt. He was sprawled dramatically across the chair with his injured foot wrapped in a cast much higher up his leg than before.

"Oh no, what did you do?" Peter asked, hurrying over to find the marker to draw on the new canvas.

"I don't wanna talk about it, so drinking early instead. What brings you by?" Matt asked.

"Aliens?" Steve offered.

"Better than ninjas, but he's extra-benched," Jessica said, scratching Annie's belly like she wasn't a cat and made of floofs.

"I hate my life, Peter, so much," Matt complained.

"Well, I could ask Dr. Cho to put you in the cradle and maybe fast forward your leg - if you let us borrow Anora to fight some aliens," Peter said.

"Doctors, ew. Why do you need Annie?" Matt asked, fingers twitching toward the thigh-high cast. "Strange said she's not an alien dragon."

"Well, Thor's brother says dragonfire is the only way to defeat the horde of aliens," Steve said.

"Hold up - we're cool with the local wizard now, we don't need any other wizards to know about Annie, especiallly ones that blasted our city once already," Jessica replied.

"Chirp," Annie offered.

"She's all excited about the 'f-i-r-e' part, she doesn't get a say," Matt said.

"Woof."

"She can spell," Jessica laughed. "You can really fix his leg without slicing him open?"

Matt wrinkled his face in disgust. "Yuck."

"Coooo," Annie warbled and Steve covered a laugh. Yeah, she was definitely calling Matt a baby.

"Danny's out of town or else this would be fixed already but I'll take one for the squad if - "

"We have an incoming alien assault, Matt, we'll make sure your identity's protected and Anora's not compromised," Steve said in his Captain voice.

"I'll take him to the tower, Jessica, can you get his suit and - let Steve drive you over to meet us?" Peter asked.

"I don't have a driver's license to lose, kid, but sure," Jessica said, raising her beer in deference. 

* * *

"Peter never lets me meet his superfriends," Tony was pouting when Peter led Matt, healed and stoic with Annie's eager tail smacking his leg with every step in her excitement to be 'let out to play'.

"Because you're rude," Peter reminded him. Tony mimicked brushing dust off his shoulder.

"Please be nice," Steve warned under his breath.

"What do you think? Smell any evil?" Matt asked Annie with a tilt of his head toward Tony instead of Loki. 

The dog stretched her neck, nose pointed in the air and pronounced, "Meow," as judgement.

Thor and Loki both flinched and - oh, Peter wondered if their Allspeak could understand Annie. 

"Pigeon!" Tony announced.

Annie pushed her nose into Matt's hand with a soft sound.

"Your call, I'll back you up if you think it's a fight you want to be a part of," Matt told her.

Peter shrugged when Tony and Steve looked at him but when they returned their attention to Matt, Anora was in her natural dragon shape - but - wow, she was BIG now. She filled the space, wings folded but spanning the room when she fluttered to ruffled Matt's hair and lick his cowl with her lizard tongue.

Thor and Loki shoved at each other to get to greet Annie first and Peter took a moment to appreciate the God of Thunder looking flustered.

"So, that's a dragon all right. Not a pigeon," Tony said to break the silence.

"She can be whatever she wants to be, preferably a form that will keep her safe from curious Avengers," Matt replied, unbothered by Annie's thick tail wrapped around his knees as if to keep him safe instead.

"Ah, yes, Daredevil is a valiant warrior, you have chosen well," Thor nodded, stroking Anora's neck as if she was a horse and not a dragon.

"She wasn't that big before," Peter whispered.

"They were domesticated by wizards centuries ago on Midgard - ignorant fools, as if they were pets," Loki said, offering his hand to Annie in a formal bow. "She is most content here if she has grown to such a size at her age."

"Doc Strange says it's because she has to bottle up her magic in public, but I don't think it hurts her, just makes her grow," Matt admitted. "He's getting magic all over your stuff," he added to Tony, sitting down heavily on a stool.

"Can't be helped, already opened the windows," Tony replied, pushing a cup of coffee to him.

He was momentarily relieved everyone was getting along and Annie seemed more curious than growly. But she was Matt's dragon and defaulted to his moods so they were all lucky to catch him day-drinking early and in better spirits because of his repaired leg.

"Mew," Annie said.

Loki and Thor glanced at each other. "Plan? Well, we haven't - "

"Chirp."

Matt laughed. "I don't speak dragon, but I think she's dragging them," he whispered to Peter when he took the stool beside him.

"Well, she had a good teacher for that," Peter said.

* * *

"She can't breathe fire in space," Matt announced after the discussion threatened to get loud.

"Why not?" Thor boomed.

"No oxygen in space, right? Isn't that required for fire?" Matt asked. "Pete?"

"Yeah, sounds legit," Peter agreed, ignoring Tony and Steve's synchronized facepalms. 

"I'm not saying you can't go to space, Annie, just might not be the best idea for you to fight in space," Matt said when Anora flicked his horns with her tail. "Have you tried negotiating with them?"

"They will not speak to us, but perhaps - " Thor started.

"Squeak," Annie cut him off. Peter never got to play with her in ferret shape, but she always sounded so cute on Luke's Instagram.

"Fog? I see no reason that Midgard's weather would make a difference but Thor may call a storm if you please," Loki frowned. "Fog is not a negotiating tool that I've heard of."

"Isn't Foggy the name of your lawyer?" Tony asked Peter over Matt's sudden giggle fit.

"Ah, so you will speak with the Zircons on our behalf if this 'Foggy' provides counsel? Does this suit you, Brother?" Loki asked Thor.

Peter didn't mind Loki when he was 'brother' and not 'betrayer' so he waited to see what the princes would decide.

"Veto, Foggy's not allowed to go to space," Matt said.

"How about the base upstate? Safe landing zone if we set up a parlay, right?" Peter asked.

"You're A-squad today, nice call. Let's set it up," Steve said, patting Peter on the back as he got to his feet.

* * *

Anora had an absolute blast meeting the aliens - it helped that they were shiny skinned and terrified of her - perfect for chasing through the meadows outside of the Avengers compound.

Matt seemed to enjoy himself, too, playing scary guardian and _'keeper of the dragonfire_' for Foggy, who had no problem settling the interplanetary dispute in return for 'all the selfies'.

Peter made sure to record Thor's elaborate forced apology to the alien Queen and her daughters - plural, the root of the problem since he'd flirted with a set of identical triplets - and Tony promised to make sure it was played at the official Avengers meeting when Peter petitioned for permanent A-squad status (but not before because Matt gave him all the rules about exploring his options at college first).


End file.
